


Like a Box of Paints

by Agapostemon



Series: Bite the Sky [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bad Puns, Fluff, Gen, Light Angst, Trans Girl Pidge (Voltron), Trans Hunk (Voltron), Trans Shiro (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-27 15:56:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10812201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agapostemon/pseuds/Agapostemon
Summary: “Okay, but hear me out,” Hunk says, hovering over Pidge’s shoulder as she types into her Altean tablet, “Our catch phrase should totally be Transformers Roll Out. Think about it! We’re both trans. We’re piloting giant space robots. The robots shapeshift from lions into humanoid body parts. It just fits!”--------Or: Pidge and Hunk synthesize some hormones and hormone blockers in space. Shiro receives a lecture about taking better care of himself.





	Like a Box of Paints

**Author's Note:**

> I had a horrible migraine last night and felt like writing something cute, so enjoy this highly-concentrated dose of trans headcanons and platonic fluff.
> 
> Title is from "Meet the Elements" by They Might Be Giants:
> 
>  
> 
> _Come on come on and meet the elements_  
>  You and I are complicated, but we're made of elements  
> Like a box of paints that are mixed to make every shade  
> They either combine to make a chemical compound or stand alone as they are

“Okay, but hear me out,” Hunk says, hovering over Pidge’s shoulder as she types into her Altean tablet, “Our catch phrase should totally be Transformers Roll Out. Think about it! We’re both trans. We’re piloting giant space robots. The robots shapeshift from lions into humanoid body parts. It just fits!”

Pidge shakes her head, a hint of a smile creeping onto her face, “You’re absurd.”

“Is that a yes?” asks Hunk eagerly, “That sounded like a yes to me.”

“Uh, sure?” Pidge says, distracted by her efforts to create synthetic hormones and hormone blockers with what they have available to them on the castle ship, “Hey, what’s your usual dose?”

“My dose of T?” Hunk asks.

“Nooo, your dose of food goo,” Pidge rolls her eyes, “Yes, of course I mean your dose of T.”

“Okay, I got this,” Hunk plucks the tablet from Pidge’s hands (ignoring her protests) and types his dosage into the formula before handing it back, “You’re almost done with the recipe, huh? Lemme know when you’re ready for me to calibrate the synthesizer.”

“Yeah, it’s just about ready,” Pidge confirms, taking her tablet back and clutching it protectively, “Give me a few minutes to check things over. We don’t want any lethal mistakes.”

“Good call,” Hunk says, looking suddenly nervous. He’s right to be apprehensive. He and Pidge may be veritable engineering geniuses, but they’re hardly biochemists. That’s more Matt’s realm, but, well… Pidge decides not to think about that right now.

“It’ll be fine,” she assures Hunk without looking up from her tablet, “That’s why we’re checking our math _before_ we inject it into our butts.”

“Right,” Hunk says, taking a deep breath to calm himself, “Just like making sure none of our ingredients are toxic before we cook with them. Okay.”

“Exactly,” Pidge nods, tucking her knees up under her chin and rocking ever so slightly in her seat as she squints at her tablet. All her math checks out, but she can’t shake the feeling that she’s forgetting something. She mentally reviews the conversations she had with Matt as she was preparing to start puberty blockers. What could she be missing?

The only thing that sticks out is something Matt said two or three years earlier: “If you can’t make your own sex hormones, store bought is fine!” She can practically hear his laugh in her head, which sends a pang through her heart.

But this is not the time to get sidetracked. Think think think. What was the context? Something about orchiectomies… oophorectomies… but neither she nor Hunk has had any kind of bottom surgery. Their bodies still produce plenty of sex hormones. Just not the right kind.

So why… Oh, _quiznack_.

Shiro.

She knew her brother lived with Shiro for his last several years at the Garrison. She knew Matt’s roommate was trans. But somehow she hadn’t put the pieces together until just now.

Wow, how long has Shiro been without hormones? Yikes.

“Hey, Hunk?” she says, looking up from her tablet.

“Yeah?” Hunk looks up from his own tablet. He’d probably gotten bored waiting for her and gone back to working on his intergalactic cookbook.

“All the formulas check out, so you can go ahead and start calibrating,” Pidge instructs, “Don’t synthesize anything quite yet, though. I need to go… collect more data.”

“More data?” Hunk blinks.

“Yep,” Pidge nods. She’s not sure how to explain what she’s doing without outing Shiro, so Hunk’s just going to have to stay confused until she gets this sorted out.

“Uh, okay,” Hunk says, frowning as he watches Pidge stride out of the room.

\-----------

Pidge finds Shiro in the training room, mopping sweat off his forehead and guzzling a water pouch in preparation for another round against the gladiator.

“Shiro! Hey, can you hang on a minute? I need to talk to you,” she calls out as she approaches the older paladin.

“Yeah, of course,” he says, his voice filled with quiet concern.

“It’s kind of personal,” Pidge warns as she reaches his side, “You wanna go somewhere more private?”

“We can do that,” Shiro nods, toweling the sweat out of his hair, “Where would you like to go, kiddo?”

Oh, crap. He thinks this is about her, doesn’t he? Time to clear that up. “Doesn’t matter to me. It’s, uh… personal for you, not me. Where do _you_ wanna go?”

Shiro’s brow creases, “Oh. Well, there’s no one here, so why don’t we just sit down?” He gestures at a nearby bench at the margins of the training room.

“Fine by me,” Pidge shrugs and follows Shiro over to the bench, taking a cross-legged seat once they arrive.

Once they’re seated, Shiro cocks his head slightly to the side, “So, what did you need to talk to me about?”

Pidge doesn’t have energy to mince words, so she jumps straight to the point, “Y’know how Hunk and I are working on synthesizing hormones and puberty blockers for ourselves?”

“I caught wind of that, yeah. Very resourceful of you,” Shiro responds with a proud smile.

Pidge isn’t sure whether Shiro is dodging the point on purpose or missing it out of shear obliviousness, but either way it’s getting exhausting fast. Time to cut to the chase. “Shiro, how long have you been without testosterone?”

Shiro blanches, “I…”

“You lived with my brother for four years, remember? Matt’s not exactly the world’s greatest secret-keeper,” Pidge says, “I’m sorry for invading your privacy, I really am. But we’re a team now, right? It’s kind of our job to worry about each other’s health.”

Shiro frowns, “Don’t worry about me.”

“Too late,” Pidge declares obstinately, “Already worrying. Haven’t you had an oophorectomy? You can’t just live with no sex hormones in your body forever. That’s not safe or healthy, as I’m sure you already know after living with my brother for so many years. It’s bad enough that you’ve gone, what… a year? With no sex hormones? But now we can fix that, and you’re just telling me not to worry about it? Unbelievable.”

Shiro responds with a tired snort of laughter, “Matt really did tell you my entire medical history, didn’t he?”

“Not everything,” Pidge says, “He didn’t tell me your dosage, which is exactly why I’m here. It’ll be easier to supply you with fake space testosterone if we know what dose you were taking back before… you know."

“I…” Shiro’s face looks almost vulnerable for a second, but he recovers quickly, “It’s been so long. I don’t really remember.”

“Helpful,” Pidge deadpans, “Well then, I guess we’ll just start you on the same dose as Hunk and adjust as needed.”

“Was that all you needed?” Shiro asks, looking all too ready to end this conversation and return to his training.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Pidge says, “You want me to keep this a secret from Hunk, or can he know?”

Shiro shrugs, “That’s fine. It’s not really a secret. Just never brought it up ‘cause it didn’t seem relevant to the mission.”

Pidge rolls her eyes, “Pretty sure your health is relevant to the mission.”

Shiro pauses, then reaches out to ruffle Pidge’s hair, “Guess I can’t argue with that logic.”

\-----------

When Pidge finds her way back to Hunk, he’s long since finished calibrating the synthesizer and retired to the couch to work on his cookbook. As soon as he hears Pidge’s footsteps, he jumps up with a hopeful grin on his face, “D’you get your data?”

“Yeah,” she smiles mischievously, knowing Hunk will be delighted with what she’s about to reveal, “We’re all set to synthesize. But make an extra batch of testosterone, will you? Same dose.”

“Extra batch?” Hunk blinks. Then realization sets in and his eyes widen, “Wait, are we not the only… who?? Tell me, tell me, tell me!” He’s bouncing on the balls of his feet and clasping his hands in front of his chest.

“Shiro,” Pidge replies with a sly smile.

Hunk gasps and scoops Pidge up in an excited hug, “Oh my god! Pidge. Pidge, we’re not the Paladins of Voltron. We’re the Paladins of Vol _trans_!”

Pidge is pretty sure her groan can be heard from halfway across the castle.

(She’s also pretty sure the delighted laughter that follows can be heard from _all_ the way across the castle.)

**Author's Note:**

> Please remember that I write purely for fun and catharsis. My fics are unbeta’d and minimally proofread. They’re not perfect, and that’s okay. If you notice something I could fix or improve, please keep those thoughts to yourself. If I genuinely want critique, I’ll ask a close friend in private. **Surprise critiques are very stressful and discouraging.** Thanks for understanding!


End file.
